Providence St. Joseph Watch
Keeping a watchful eye on the nation’s ever expanding third largest hospital chain.
Sign the Community Support Letter
Caregivers at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital have always come through for us; now we need to come through for them. Providence St. Joseph Health wants to cut our paid time off, which includes sick leave, and more than double the cost of health care premiums for caregivers at Santa Rosa Memorial. Caregivers, who have served our community through wildfires and a pandemic, shouldn’t be deprived of essential benefits. If you think caregivers at Sonoma County’s designated trauma center should have affordable health care, please sign on to this letter that will be sent to Providence’s CEO in Sonoma County, Tyler Hedden.
Read the Letter
Dear Mr. Hedden:
The people who work at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital are our friends and neighbors. We depend on them to care for us when we are sick or injured and to help us and our loved ones deal with some of the most difficult moments of our lives.
During the 2017 North Bay wildfires, when Kaiser and Sutter hospitals were closed, dozens of Santa Rosa Memorial caregivers who lost their homes in the blaze kept working around the clock to serve their communities. They have demonstrated their commitment again this year, putting their own health at risk to care for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now is the time for Providence St. Joseph Health to show its commitment to them with a fair contract that honors their hard work and dedication. We were very alarmed to learn that Providence is demanding that workers accept concessions that would leave many with fewer sick days and dramatically higher health insurance costs.
Healthcare workers are putting their health on the line during a pandemic. How can you justify cutting their paid time off, which includes sick leave and making it harder for them to afford to see a doctor? Demanding takeaways makes even less sense considering that Santa Rosa Memorial reported a $72 million operating profit last year. Over the last three years the hospital has reported a staggering $201 million operating profit.
We respect the important contributions Providence makes in our community. Santa Rosa Memorial is our county’s designated trauma center, serving everybody in Sonoma County who has been critically injured. That’s why we are so surprised that you are trying to make it harder for Santa Rosa caregivers to take sick leave and afford quality medical insurance.
We urge you to withdraw your proposed takeaways and move forward with a fair settlement so everyone can devote all their energies to the most important matter at hand — defeating the coronavirus and caring for everyone who has been infected.